Heras Nightmare Haunted Attraction Review (2026)

Since this is a mall haunt, parking is always available at the mall entrance, which is well marked with Hera’s Nightmare banners, an inflatable, music, and a ticket booth. The entire mall corridor is stocked with selfie opportunities and props, and one might think he wandered into the haunt by mistake. You couldn’t miss it if you tried. Queue lines were well marked for Gen and VIP.

There was a combination deal with The Final Bell haunt, which is minutes away, and also a VIP deal which included a huge selfie area and another lounge area with no time limits. There was always a scare actor or two within view of the queue line as they patrolled, drawing attention from innocent mall walkers as well as the assembled haunt fanatics.

The excitement builds as you prepare to enter the first attraction, Hexen Hollow. Pro-style audio and visual displays, including spotlights, ramped up the enthusiasm. Once inside, you’re gathered for a pre-show and then briefly in another line queue as you are read the rules. From the opening show through the attraction, you completely forget you’re in a mall, as Hexen Hollow is meticulously crafted to make you feel like you’re in an outside colonial village.

As you wander in and out of the various shacks and homes, every area feels complete. The houses in the village have their own roofs! Asylum and Bite Fight all kept consistent themes throughout, and costuming was detailed and area-specific. Most of the actors wore contacts. All had detailed make-up and there were a few very scary masks. The monsters at the end of Asylum were kind of random. Nothing out of place and you could never look up and see the edges of the walls or the ceiling tiles. Bite Fight had meticulously crafted medieval-style rooms and corridors.

Custom soundtracks and scare effects abound here. HHN-style scares with a flash of light and sound and an actor lurching at you are the norm, but there were loads of animatronics, and they were timed to delay past the first person or two in the group.

Lighting effects were used to great effect, both in the sudden scares (that one in the dark maze still has me reeling) and in the subtle areas, like lightning effects coupled perfectly with thunder booming. Love the vampire areas with windows. Think “Salem’s Lot” with a vampire scratching on the window from outside. Cool stuff. Beautiful swamp maze with just enough fog to obscure what’s beneath. Fog effects were well timed to blast just as you entered.

This haunt has scare actors, not just ghouls who jump out and yell “boo!” The opening scene by the witch set the stage for the actors who would follow, and rarely were we hit with the all-too-familiar “GET OUT” or “WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN HERE.”

Hexen Hollow had a real storyline, and actors played their parts to perfection. The way this haunt is designed, there may only be a handful of actors in each attraction, but they are well positioned to hit you several times each. We love character-led haunts! Shout out to the opening area witch. That was quite a performance! Also to the Asylum doctors and patients.